THE WALL OF FACES

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

On January 24, 1968, elements of the 320th North Vietnamese Army Division, an elite unit and veterans of the 1954 Dien Bien Phu campaign and newly arrived in the Demilitarized Zone sector, ambushed a U.S. Marine "Rough Rider" convoy. The convoy was on a routine artillery resupply mission from Dong Ha to Camp Carroll. It consisted of three trucks and a jeep armed with quad .50-caliber machine guns. At 1:30 PM, when the trucks were about to turn into the Camp Carroll access road, some 3,000 meters above the Marine base, the North Vietnamese sprang their ambush. The enemy soldiers opened up with small arms, mortars, machine guns, and recoilless rifles, immediately immobilizing all four vehicles. Using their weapons, including the quad .50, to defend themselves, and taking what cover they could, the Marines in the convoy called for assistance. The 4th Marines sent a reaction force from Camp Carroll consisting of a platoon from Company H, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines; two tanks, one a flame tank, from Company B, 3rd Tank Battalion; and two U.S. Army M42 Dusters from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery. The North Vietnamese, however, were waiting for the reaction column. An enemy gunner fired on the lead tank, stopping it with a recoilless rifle round and killing the reaction force commander, CAPT Daniel W. Kent, who was also the tank company commander. Again, the Marines fought back and called for support. When two UH-1E gunships appeared overhead around 6:30 PM, the North Vietnamese troops broke contact and disappeared. A second relief column of two more Dusters and two trucks armed with quad .50s arrived from Dong Ha and assisted with the evacuation of the dead and wounded. The Marines suffered casualties of six men dead and forty-four wounded. The lost Marines included CAPT Kent, PFC Gilbert Ayala Jr., LCPL Gilbert Diaz, PFC Clayton M. Holland, CPL Robert J. McCarl, and CPL John H. Neal Jr. One U.S. Army Duster crewman, PFC Billy L. Strickland, was also killed. Three enemy dead were confirmed. Not only did the vehicles of the original convoy require extensive repairs, but two of the Dusters and the tank hit by the RPG round also sustained damage. Strickland, the Army Duster crewman, was posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and the publication “U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Defining Year 1968]

Without people like you our great nation wouldn't exist. Rest in peace LCPL. Diaz, you shall never be forgotten. Semper Fidelis!

at our June 2019 Bravo Battery, 12th Marines (Vietnam 1965-1969) Reunion in Nashville TN, our membership voted to purchase 12 engraved memorial bricks to honor our fallen Marines..
I purchased your brick on 6/28/2019 and it is set to be placed at the USMC Museums WALK OF HONOR in December of 2019 in Quanico VA... We wanted to remember you and honor you for your ultimate sacrifice... SEMPER FI Marine

Dear Lcpl Gilbert Diaz,
Thank you for your service as a Wireman. It is Mother's Day, and I wish you all were here with your moms. It has been too long, and it's about time for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.